Family
by IceAngel1119
Summary: This is my idea of what might have happened if the Stargate hadn't been found...or something like that. I don't have it all worked out yet, but it will definitely be SheppardWeir.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Family (only because I can't think of anything better at the moment)

Pairings: Shep/Weir (of course) and Weir/Simon (not for long grins evilly)

Summary: AU- definitely I'm not sure if I want this to be a universe where the Stargate doesn't exist or if it just wasn't discovered yet. Pretty much, Elizabeth got married to Simon then met John, the rest of SGA will make an appearance eventually.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot and the characters that aren't on the show.

A/N: I had to get this idea down on paper before I could write another chapter to my other fic. For some reason my crazy brain wouldn't let this one get away.

Chapter 1

Bright lights passed across the dark window in intervals, cars that were driven by people going to work or starting their vacation. It was probably around four in the morning, she had to be leaving soon. Elizabeth Weir turned from the window trying not to wake the person sleeping next to her.

A muscular man lay on his stomach next to her; he would be tall if he was standing up. A shadow of stubble shone around his chin and cheeks, which she found incredibly sexy. His hair was messy, but that had nothing to do with their recent activities, it was always messy, like he had a permanent case of bed head.

Giving into the urge, she reached out and ran a hand through the soft messy black hair on the man's head. He shifted; opening one green eye to look at her, a sleepy smile appeared on his face.

"Hey," his voice was deep and sexy with sleep, and she had to smile back.

"Hey."

He shifted closer to her and ran his hand down her thigh, caressing the skin.

"I have to leave soon," it was a pure statement of fact; she couldn't be here longer than normal, because she had to get to back.

He sighed, unconsciously gripping her leg possessively.

"John, you know I have to go," Elizabeth could feel them both mentally pulling away from each other, she knew it would happen.

"Yes Elizabeth, I know you have to go, but that doesn't mean I have to like it," John looked at her again, pain and anger in his gaze, "I know you have to leave, but I don't want you to."

The venom in his words shouldn't have surprised her, but it did. It hurt her that she couldn't stay, but she wasn't about to let John Sheppard in on that particular secret.

"Hey," Elizabeth slid closer to him and cupped his cheek, "if it was possible for me to stay you know I would. I wouldn't be here if I didn't care about you and you know that."

"Yeah, I do," John ran his hand through her hair, gazing into her eyes. He moved closer and kissed her innocently. It gradually became more passionate as he lent into her, sliding his hand in between them.

"Wait, I really have to go," John sighed into her neck as Elizabeth attempted to disentangle herself from his body.

"Yeah I know, I know," John rolled over onto his back as he watched her walk to the bathroom, admiring the view.

Fifteen minutes later she exited the bathroom, freshly showered and wearing a pair of jeans with a fitted long sleeve shirt. Glancing at John standing by the window in only his jeans, she briefly reconsidered staying.

Elizabeth walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his warm body, and resting her head on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, I want to stay," John took a deep breath and remained unresponsive, "I've got to go, I'll call you later."

She moved away from him, shrugging into her leather jacket and heading out the door.

"I have to run some errands tonight I don't know when I'll be back."

His voice stopped her in the doorway, he was a good man, but he couldn't be for her. Elizabeth closed the door to his apartment, making her way down to her car and sliding in behind the wheel.

John Sheppard was an arrogant flyboy when she'd first met him, and he'd done anything he could to get in her bed. It had been a really bad idea, but after resisting for a few months she had eventually given in, inviting the air force pilot into a bed with her. For a few months that had been the arrangement, they would meet and have sex then one of them would leave. Then it had changed, they'd started meeting for coffee and telling childhood stories, he knew more about her then anyone else.

John was someone that she trusted infinitely, no matter what happened he was always there for her; she couldn't imagine her life without him.

"Oh my God," Elizabeth dropped her head to the steering wheel, "it was never supposed to be anything more than a fling."

Sighing to herself she started the car and pulled out of the parking garage, quickly getting on the highway.

By the time she pulled into the driveway of the white suburban house, it was around eight o'clock and everyone in there should be awake. She opened the car door and moved down the path lined with flowers, growing was something that she'd never had the talent to do, and toward the front door.

Elizabeth pushed open the door and stepped across the threshold, looking up the stairs wondering if she had time to change before…

"Oomph," the air was temporarily knocked out of her, as something had come running down the hall and thrown its small arms around her legs, before she even had the chance to close the door.

Looking down, Elizabeth could see a mass of very messy black hair somewhere around her navel. That hair was attached to a small boy about four years old, wearing dinosaur pajamas and currently squeezing the life out of her knees as if he hadn't seen her in three years. The boy turned his head upward, revealing bright green eyes, her eyes.

"Mommy!" the boy squealed, causing Elizabeth to grin, "morning mommy!"

"Morning Nicky," Elizabeth shrugged out of her jacket and closed the door before reaching down and lifting her son into her arms, "why aren't you watching Saturday morning cartoons, like you always do?"

"Because daddy doesn't like it when I watch cartoons, he says that I have to watch something educational like CNN," he grimaced at the thought, "why weren't you here last night? Did you have to work?"

"Yep, there are these two countries that are fighting with each other and if I don't help them figure it out somebody could get hurt," she had explained what a diplomat did to Nicholas before, and the understanding he showed still amazed her. She walked through the house, with the boy still on her hip, pausing a second to pet her dog, before continuing toward the kitchen.

When she walked into the kitchen a man not much taller then herself was seated at the counter sipping a cup of coffee, he looked up when she entered.

"Well, who is this mysterious woman that just walked into my house and picked up my son?"

The man stood up to come over to her; he was slightly on the heavy side and wore slacks and a sweater even though it was the weekend. His eyes were a dull brown and the hair on his head was flecked with grey, he was the perfect picture of a conservative business man.

"Ha ha ha, very funny Simon, you knew that I was working late last night," seeing the stubborn glint appear in Simon's eyes she put Nick back on his feet, "why don't you go watch some cartoons."

As the boy ran off, Elizabeth took a moment to study her husband. It was a running argument between them that she was still working as a diplomat for the government and trying to be a wife and mother. Simon thought that she should be a stay at home mom, but Elizabeth wouldn't settle for that. She had always thought that she was meant to do something more, and that wasn't sitting around eating bonbons.

"Elizabeth, I know that you were working last night, but you could've left early to be here on my last night," Simon was angry and it was understandable, she had completely forgotten that he was leaving today. Simon was a lawyer that was employed by the government, so he was required to travel to wherever the client was. Today he had to go to China and defend a US citizen that was placed in one of their jails; he would be gone for three weeks at the least. He had also specifically requested that they have a family dinner together before he left, she'd had a bad day at work and when John had called she had just agreed.

"I'm sorry, I got busy and completely forgot, when you get back we'll go out," it was the best that she could do, Simon was the cook; Elizabeth had no domestic skills whatsoever, beyond doing the laundry.

The man smiled slightly and moved to give her a hug; she returned the action on instinct, feeling rather awkward in his arms after being in John's all night. He moved away and picked up his bags that were in the corner.

"Alright, but I'm holding you to that. I have to go my cab will be here any minute," Simon walked into the living room, followed by Elizabeth.

Nick was there, sitting straight backed on the couch watching cartoons, and as soon as Simon came in he turned them off and stood up. Simon smiled and put his bags down getting ready for a goodbye hug.

"Now remember to take care of your mom okay? And don't forget, no feet on the couch, no junk food, no getting your clothes dirty and no rough housing with the dog," Nicholas nodded swiftly and gave Simon a stiff hug.

Elizabeth frowned slightly; her son had never really accepted Simon's rules, even though he followed them. She thought that he was too strict, when she was young her and her brothers would wrestle around and fight on the couches over what they would watch; the only time they didn't was when their father, a navy admiral, would order them to stop.

A horn sounded from outside, and Simon pulled away while picking up his bags again.

"Well I'll see you guys in a few weeks," with that said he walked to the front door and left, a few seconds later a car could be heard pulling away from the house. Nick blinked up at her as if wondering what to do. The pitter patter of Shadow's feet could be heard before the golden retriever was standing at her side. Both the dog and boy looked at her; she cocked an eyebrow at her son and jumped up onto the, shoes and all.

The action spurred the other two, and Nicholas and Shadow leaped up with her, all of them laughing.

In that instant she could see Nicholas's father in his features; the carefree laugh combine with the mischievous glint in his eyes and the playful smile on his lips. These things were something that she had never associated with her husband, but were the spitting image of her lover.

Nick's birthday was close enough to a night that she and Simon had spent together for him to believe that he was the boy's father. And Elizabeth had even thought that Nick might have been until she saw the child, he was the spitting image of John except for a few features that were her own.

That had complicated things; she had deep feelings for John, but hadn't wanted to hurt Simon. Then her son was born and she could never find the right time to tell either man the truth; Simon still thought that Nick was his son and John thought the same.

Elizabeth still couldn't figure out a way that she could be with John and not hurt Nick or Simon. All of her professors would be laughing their asses off right now, the great Elizabeth Weir that thought she knew everything was backed into a corner.

Later that night she was really starting to enjoy being free of Simon. They'd gone out, rented movies and ordered a pizza; Nick was in the living room right now watching TV and eating dinner on the couch, something that Simon would never allow.

She was standing in the kitchen having her first cigarette in over two months. It was a bad habit, but she had started after her brother had died and had never managed to quit. But Simon didn't approve so she didn't smoke in the house. John knew of her habit and had encouraged her to quit, but he didn't get into an argument with her every time she lit up.

The phone rang, expecting it to be Simon she took her time getting to it.

"Hello?"

"Elizabeth?" the shaky voice on the other end registered immediately, even though it was entirely different from its normal tone.

"Mom, what's wrong?" Elizabeth fought hard to keep the panic out of her voice. Her mother hadn't sounded this shaken since her oldest brother, Brian, had been killed.

"Your…your father had a heart attack," she almost dropped the receiver, Robert Weir was the strongest man she knew, the thought of something happening to him was earth shattering.

"What? Do Troy and Kyle know?" she doubted that either did, her older brothers were harder to get a hold of then she was. This all had to do with their jobs of course, Kyle was an adventure hunter and Troy was with the CIA's under cover operations division.

"No, I haven't been able to get a hold of them; do you have any idea where they are?"

Elizabeth didn't, she hadn't talked with either of her brothers since before Nick was born, because they didn't approve of Simon. It was ironic that after meeting John, Simon hadn't been enough for her either.

"I don't know where either of them is, but I think I can find them," Elizabeth did a quick run through of the favors she'd have to call in, and they added up to a lot more then she wanted to admit, but it was for a good reason, "I'll give you a call as soon as I have a way to contact them."

"Elizabeth, hurry please it was pretty severe."

"I will, talk to you soon," with that she hung up, her family was notorious for ending a call without saying goodbye.

She quickly put out the cigarette and was half way to the door before the sound of the TV reached her. Turning around she realized that she couldn't just leave Nick here alone and she couldn't get the information she needed from home. Making a snap decision and rushing back to the phone before she could change her mind she started dialing the only number that came to mind.

John Sheppard was sitting in his apartment reading War and Peace when the phone on his kitchen counter rang. He looked up at it for a moment before glancing at the clock on the wall that read 2200; only one person he knew would call him this late.

Sighing he set the book down and walked to the phone, he stared at it for a moment trying to decide if he wanted to talk to her, before picking up the receiver.

"Sheppard?"

"John, I need a favor," Elizabeth's voice was rushed and panicky, something that he'd never heard before, it put all thoughts of avoidance out of his mind.

"Elizabeth, are you alright?"

"No, I need you to come over here and watch Nick for a little while," that was the last thing that he had ever expected; he had never even met the boy. Plus he wasn't the father, no matter how much he wanted to be, John had no idea why she'd be asking him.

"What are you talking about, I…"

"John, please I'll explain everything when you get here."

She sounded so flustered that he couldn't say no to her, not that he could anyway. After taking down the address, he grabbed a coat and drove quickly to where the woman he loved was in obvious distress.

John jogged up to the door and knocked on the rich oak, waiting impatiently for it to open. When it did, it revealed the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen wearing the same clothes that he'd seen her in this morning.

"Hey"

"Hey, thanks for getting here so quickly," she stepped aside and he quickly followed. They'd spent a lot of time together over the past few years, but he had never set foot in her house before today. He couldn't see much from his position; pretty much all which presented itself was a stairway that leads upstairs and hard wood floors lining the hallway.

He didn't have much time as Elizabeth moved down the hallway and farther into the house, quickly followed by John. The house looked pristine; not at all like a four year old lived there and he knew for a fact that Elizabeth was messy when left to her own devices, which meant that the husband must run a tight ship.

Stepping into the kitchen behind Elizabeth, he watched her walk behind the counter and immediately light a cigarette; from the ashtray he could tell that she had had quite a few.

"Elizabeth, what's wrong and where is he?" he didn't like saying the man's name, it made him feel like everything he had with her was wrong, but she knew who he meant.

"Simon went out of town for a few weeks on business," he saw her sigh heavily then look up at him, into his eyes, "my father had a heart attack and I need to go into my office in order to track down my brothers."

"Okay," it seemed to startle both of them that he had agreed so easily, but that didn't mean he was any less sincere.

"Okay, I should only be gone for a couple hours," she looked at him for a moment as if reconsidering, before shaking her head, "Nicholas is in the living room watching TV, he can go to bed when he gets tired, but don't let him try to stay up and wait for me, because he will. There's some pizza in the refrigerator and we rented some movies, so you shouldn't be bored."

John nodded a couple of times, he had never seen Elizabeth so flustered and he was going to do anything that he could to help out. She shook her head again absentmindedly and headed off down another hallway, John did the only thing he could; follow.

The hallway opened up into a large room with a couple of couches, a large TV and a fireplace, that happened to have a dog lying in front of it. A small boy sat on one of the couches, sitting straight backed as if he was in military camp, he knew that couldn't be Elizabeth's conditioning, because when she relaxed she sunk as far down into a chair as possible. The thought made his jaw clench, the man that she was married to apparently wasn't going to let a kid just be a kid.

"Hey Nicky," Elizabeth knelt down next to the couch to speak to her son. John couldn't help but be struck with the resemblance, they had the same color eyes and hair, there were also some other features that looked familiar, but he couldn't place, "I have to go into the office for a little while and I don't want you trying to wait up for me, is that clear? While I'm gone a good friend of mine is going to watch you, his name's John. Is that okay?"

John stood still with his hands in his pockets as Nick turned to look at him, studying his every move and thought with bright green eyes. The boy frowned at him for a moment before nodding his consent.

"Alright, you be good for him, because I'll get a full report when I get home," Elizabeth stood and ruffled Nick's hair before giving him a smile and heading for the door.

"Thanks for doing this, I know that this is really weird, but I didn't know who else to call."

"Hey, it's okay, anytime you ever need something I'm hear for you, just don't expect me to clean your house for you," that earned a smile from her, which was exactly what he had been going for, "don't worry about anything, we'll be just fine."

With that said he gave her a little push out the door and closed it behind her. After waiting until the car was out of the driveway, John shrugged out of his coat and made his way back to the living room.

Nick was sitting in the same position as the last time John saw him. He shrugged to himself before walking over and flopping ungracefully onto the couch next to the kid.

"What're you watching?" John looked over to see Nick studying him with a frown.

"The State of the Union Address," John made a disgusted face, it was bad enough that the thing took over every station for one night of the year; he didn't need to watch it twice.

"Okay, now that is just wrong to subject a child to that, did your mom make you watch it?"

"No, my dad thinks that if I watch intelligent things I will grow up to be smart like him," John made another face; it figures that 'stick in the mud' would force this torture on the kid.

"Well that's a matter of opinion. Personally I think that if you want to be smart, use your mom as a role model not your dad. And I have it on good authority that your mom would not make you watch this for entertainment," with that said John reached over and grabbed the remote from the other side of the couch.

John then proceeded to flip through the channels under Nicholas' watchful gaze.

"There, no one can watch this too many times," he had settled on the Disney channel, which was currently playing Toy Story, a personal favorite of his.

"What is it?"

The question had startled John, what kid hadn't watched Toy Story?

"You've never seen this?"

"No, dad doesn't like me watching cartoons, he says it will rot my brain," Nick frowned for a moment in thought, "mom and dad always fight about it, because she says that I should be able to watch cartoons if I want to."

"Well she's right, no one should go through life without watching cartoons, and I still like to watch them."

"You do? But you're an adult."

John looked at the little boy and grinned, he was going to show this kid how to have fun if it was the last thing he did.

"I love to watch cartoons, especially this movie. Now I'm going to go make us some popcorn and then I'm going to introduce you to the finer points of TV watching. The first of which is that you have to be as comfortable as possible."

John stood to go into the kitchen, only leaving the room when Nick was properly slouched and glued to the television.

After watching the movie and having a very large popcorn fight, John had discovered that Nick had never actually made a fort. So he'd stolen all of the pillows and blankets from the living room and proceeded up to the boy's bedroom.

It had taken Elizabeth forever to track down her wayward brothers. Finally after calling in every favor that had ever been owed to her, she'd found them.

Kyle was currently living in Antarctica, digging under the ice at some classified location a few miles from McMurdoch. He had apparently found an open pocket a few miles beneath the surface, leading to his entire team traveling down there in the search of anything unusual.

Troy on the other hand was in the Middle East, tracking down some of the people on the most wanted list.

She'd even managed to find a way to get a message to both of them. And had been informed that both of her brothers were on their way home, before she even left the office.

Now as she unlocked her door, some four hours after leaving, all she wanted to do was go up to bed and go to sleep.

Looking around she noticed that the lights were still on in the living room, expecting to find John; she made her way in there. Much to Elizabeth's confusion, John was no where to be found, so she headed upstairs to see if Nick was in bed.

When she opened her son's bedroom door she couldn't help but smile. Blankets were strung up all around the room being held together by close pins. Pillows were stacked up under the blankets in order to give some lift to the fort.

And lying beneath the structure were the two men that she had been looking for. John Sheppard lay on his side hugging one of her son's teddy bears and he was fast asleep, it wasn't hard to imagine him sucking his thumb. Next to her lover was Nick, situated in a similar position except he had wrapped his small body around a stuffed dog that she had bought him for his birthday.

Much to her amusement Shadow was the only one that noticed her entrance. The dog was lying on Nick's other side acting like a blanket, by keeping his young charge warm.

Elizabeth couldn't believe the obvious change that had taken place in her son over night. He would never have even suggested making a fort before he'd met John, and the popcorn littering the entire living room was a testament to their prior activities.

She smiled again and padded over in her bare feet to grab the only loose blanket in the room off of Nick's bed. Leaning down she brushed the hair back from Nick's face and gently draped the cloth over his body.

Elizabeth made to stand up, but a hand gently wrapped around her wrist, drawing her attention to the air force officer next to her. John watched her for a second with a small smile playing on his lips before giving her arm a tug. Complying with his silent request she slid under the fort and situated herself in his arms, his chest rising and falling against her back.

"Did you find everything that you needed?" his voice was low and sexy with sleep, and if her son wasn't lying less than a foot away she'd turn around and kiss the man.

"Yea, I really should go give my mom a call."

"You can call her in the morning, she's probably asleep anyway," she could tell by his voice that he was starting to fall back to sleep, and by the feeling of warmth around her that was starting to sound like a good idea.

"You're right. I saw that you two had fun," her eyes were closed now and his breathing was starting to even out.

"Yea, I've made it my mission to see that that kid has some fun in his life."

Elizabeth smiled slightly before they both fell asleep. She didn't want to think about Simon or her father, all she wanted to do was pretend that she had the perfect family lying right under this fort.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N- Sorry this took so long to update. I didn't have access to the internet for a few days. I finally made up my mind and decided to incorporate the Stargate project into the story in a way.I just think it would be really cute to have John teach Nicky how to fly a Puddlejumper.

Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 2

The landscape was covered in ice and a frigid wind blew across the barren terrain. A large group of people was standing around a vast hole in the ice, oblivious to the wind. The cavity went down several miles into the ground, where the drill was still doing its task. Everyone stood rigid, waiting for the machine to reach the depth that they had all gathered here for.

Several months prior to their departure an aerial survey had been taken of Antarctica. It wasn't anything unusual, it had been done every year, but this year it had turned up something that no one had ever seen before. Dr. Kyle Weir, an archeologist that most people didn't take seriously, because of his tendency to gravitate toward the unusual, had found an empty area buried deep within the ice.

Any specialist would say that it was impossible because of the pressure, but no matter what they said, it was still there. So as a result of the new find, Dr. Weir had pulled his entire team down to the large continent and started digging.

Now all everyone had to do was wait, because the drill was about one hundred feet from its intended depth.

"Kyle!"

A voice echoed across the plain, causing a young man around the age of thirty-five to turn around. Someone was waving at him from the tent where they were monitoring the drill's progress.

Regretfully he turned from the hole, wanting nothing more than to suit up and repel down.

Pulling aside the flap he entered into the warm interior of the tent, two other men sat inside. Paul Connor, the technical specialist, had been with Kyle since the beginning of all the crazy expeditions. He was shorter than Weir and about twenty years older, but he was fit and kept up with the best of them. The other man was Ryan Calvin, a fellow adventure lover and scientist, who had been friends with Kyle since they used to prank their teachers in elementary school. People used to call them brothers, and they could pass for it if it wasn't for the completely different appearance. Where Kyle was tall and dark haired Ryan was blond and short, but they both had that muscular build that could only come in their line of work.

"What do you got?"

Ryan spun around to look at his friend as Kyle pulled off the goggles to reveal bright green eyes.

"I really have no idea. But I can tell you one thing, it's not from around here," Ryan gestured to the screen that was projecting an image from the scanner on the drill.

Kyle bent down to look over Paul's shoulder, and then he had to move even closer. With all of his experience in this field he could only come up with one explanation; what was on the screen wasn't possible. A large round structure was embedded in the ice; it had to be at least two stories tall. And beyond it lay the chamber that had first been detected, open areas so many miles beneath the ice weren't supposed to exist.

"I'm going down there. Recall the drill, make sure that everything is packed away for the night, it's going to be a cold one."

"Kyle what are you talkin' about? Its dusk now, it's too late to go down there and you definitely won't make it back before the big freeze comes in," Paul had finally spun in his seat to address the younger man, frowning at the boy's stupidity.

"I'll be alright, but you know me Paul. Impatience runs in the family. Besides, by the time the freeze comes in I'll already be at the bottom and it's protected so far beneath the surface."

"Well in that case, I'm going too," Ryan looked happy to chime in, but Kyle knew that the man would never have let him go down without him.

"How'd I guess? Alright, ole buddy, get suited up and meet me out at the entrance in twenty," with that Ryan nodded and left the tent, "Paul you've got control of the camp while we're gone."

"How long are you guys going to be down there?"

Paul was watching him, critically analyzing his every move. Kyle had been known to take unreasonable risks, most people put it up to his older brother's death when he was still young, but Paul knew better. Kyle had a drive to learn about things that no one else knew about, and he loved a rush. The fact of the matter was that Weir was good at what he did and nobody else could do it nearly as well.

"I don't know. We're going to explore the open space and get some footage of the site. We'll probably have to spend the night, so don't wait up dad," Kyle gave the older man a grin, it was a running joke with them, because Paul was always the over protective one. Even when all of them were repelling down the side of a cliff face, Paul was right there with them yelling at the 'young ones' to be careful.

Kyle pulled his goggles back on and walked out into the cold. People were already moving to get the equipment covered and he could hear the drill making its way back up the hole.

He ducked into the equipment tent, and he was met with the sight of two of his closest friends in full repelling gear.

"I thought that only Ryan and I were going down?"

The two men turned at the sound of Kyle's voice, one was Ryan while the other was a slightly taller African American man. He had the bluest eyes that Kyle had ever seen and had been his older brother, Brian's best friend. When Brian had died Derrick Rogers had lost all sense of direction, joining up with Kyle's team had been the best thing for him.

"Well I couldn't let you guys have all the fun," Derrick grinned at him as he pulled the pack at his feet onto his back.

"The more the merrier," Weir stepped over to them, grabbed the gear that he needed and before they knew it all three of the men were descending down the steep slope that the drill had left in its wake.

Icy walls surrounded them and more of the hardened white snow crunched under their boots. An eerie silence had settled over the deserted area.

"It's like some kind of…outpost," Ryan spun around, moving his flashlight to illumine the vicinity.

"Yeah, I've never seen anything like it," Derrick was looking at a podium about waist high; it had all different buttons on it that looked to be made of crystal.

"I don't think anyone has," Kyle muttered softly as he slid his gloved hand up the cool metal surface of the large ring. It had a lot of small symbols carved into the inner ring and nine orange chevrons surrounded the outer edge.

"Jesus, what did we dig up? This is like a whole new civilization, it will rewrite history!" Ryan had joined Derrick at the console and was eagerly pressing buttons to see if they did anything; they didn't.

Kyle dug into his pack until he pulled out a video camera. He immediately began filming the entire surrounding area, starting with the large ring.

"This thing isn't going to work, the power source is long depleted," Ryan was still pushing the buttons, but with less enthusiasm. Derrick was eyeing his surroundings warily.

"I don't think we should stay down here, it feels like a ghost town," Kyle looked over to watch the dark skinned man; he was peering closely at a line of text that was on the wall.

"We have to, there isn't any time to get back to the surface before the frost comes in," Kyle scanned the console closest to him with the camera, "Ryan why don't you guys start setting up the tents?"

"Yeah sure," the man in question muttered, reluctantly leaving the podium and pulling the tents out of the gear that they had dragged down with them.

Leaving the men to their work, Kyle wandered off down an adjacent hallway. A large chamber soon appeared in front of him, it was empty save for one lone chair in the center.

He swung around it once with the camera before sitting down in the chair. It didn't do anything except sit there, but for some reason he thought that it should.

Kyle chuckled slightly to himself, now he was starting to sound like his sister. She had always been the one with the strange feelings, which ironically were usually right. Elizabeth had always had great intuition, but then she had gone and married that idiot Simon.

Troy and Kyle had tried to talk her out of it, but to no avail. His mother and father had even encouraged it. Because Elizabeth, as smart as she is, had developed several dangerous habits since their brother had died. Brian had been closest to their little sister and when he died she had bottled everything up inside, leaving the grief to manifest in other ways. But the stubbornness that both Kyle and his brother, Troy, shared had lead to neither of them having any contact with their sister since the wedding, six years ago.

"Kyle! The camp's set up!"

Ryan's voice filtered through the tunnel leading back to the entrance. Kyle turned off the camera and headed back to meet up with his friends.

About six hours later they had packed up all of their gear and were well on their way up the tunnel.

Derrick reached down and grasped Kyle's hand giving him the last pull up to the surface.

"Hey, Kyle," turning he could see Paul leaning out of a tent in the dim lighting of dawn, "you've got great timing as usual. You've got a call."

Frowning at the thought, quickly running through the list of the people that knew he was here; it was a very short list. The project had been classified from the highest level, and at the time he hadn't understood why, but now he did.

He pulled apart the flap and shed his goggles and gloves, while walking over to his old friend that held a communications headset.

"Weir?"

"Well, there's a voice I haven't heard in awhile."

The distinctly feminine voice on the other end had to be the last one he had ever expected to hear.

"Hey, what are you doing calling? And how did you find me all the way down here?"

His sister laughed lightly, a sound that if he admitted it to himself, he had missed.

"I have my ways, and I have some urgent news which you aren't going to like," she suddenly sounded sad, as if she didn't really want to tell him at all.

"Liz, what's wrong?"

"Dad had a heart attack."

The news hit him like a ton of bricks, his father had never been sick for as long as he'd known the man, this wasn't possible.

"And according to mom it was pretty serious. I already got a hold of Troy, and he's on his way to Chicago right now."

"Yeah."

"Yeah, what? Are you going to come or not?"

Her voice was sharp; she must really be on edge. Kyle glanced over to his bag, where the camera was located; the camera with all of the footage from the cave.

"Yeah…yeah, I'll be there as soon as I can get a flight out."

Elizabeth sighed, as if the weight of the world was suddenly a little lighter. It was weird that Kyle had always thought that his sister would be the only one he could ever trust with the fate of the world.

"Alright, I'll call mom and let her know that we're all coming."

"Hey, you know it's pretty late where you are?"

"Yeah, I know, but I got…a friend to look after Nicky."

She said it so offhand that it didn't really register at first, that he didn't know who Nicky was.

"Who's Nicky?"

He sensed Elizabeth pause and knew immediately that he had said the wrong thing.

"Nicky is my son."

That simple sentence floored him. Was he so out of his sister's life that he never even knew that she'd been pregnant?

"You have a kid? When? How? Is Simon the father?"

He said the last part with a vehemence that he couldn't really justify, but all she did was laugh.

"Yes, I have a kid. His name is Nicholas and he's four years old. And as for the last, no comment."

Kyle frowned, he was pretty sure that Elizabeth was still married to Simon and if she didn't say that he was the father, it meant that he wasn't.

"So who's the father?" Elizabeth sighed, and he could practically see her running her hand through her hair, "Liz, are you having an affair?"

"Yeah I am, but it doesn't feel like it, Kyle. I love him more than anyone else, except for Nick. Simon…was a convenience. I never thought that I would find real love and he asked me to marry him. I thought it would make mom stop worrying."

Kyle couldn't believe what he was hearing. His little sister had fallen in love and had a child; all with a man that was not her husband. He had never liked her husband, so he didn't really have much confidence in her judgment with men. But he would try to like the guy, and try to convince his sister to get a divorce.

"Who else knows about the kid?"

"No one, not even his real father."

"Liz, you have to tell him, you have to tell them both. Then you have to get a divorce, because if you really love this other guy then you should be with him."

His sister gave a small laugh that sounded a little tearful.

"You have no idea how many times I've tried to tell them, but you're right I have to."

"And soon, so that Nick can adjust to calling this other guy dad."

"I don't think that will be a problem, he has my instincts."

They both laughed, sharing a true sibling moment for the first time in years.

"So tell me about this new guy, just don't say he's another lawyer."

"Nope, better, he's an Air Force pilot." Kyle groaned, while his sister laughed again.

"You know that dad isn't going to like that. I distinctly remember him saying that you can marry anyone you want as long as he is not a pilot."

"Yeah well, this one's different."

"Alright, I take it that he's the one staying with your son," he didn't wait for her confirmation before continuing, "I'd better let you go get some sleep. I'll be on the first flight I can find."

"Alright, it was good talking with you big brother."

"Yeah, see you soon."

With that he hung up with his sister, before dialing McMurdoch Air Force base. Within a few minutes he had secured helicopter transport to the nearest commercial airport and had a flight booked directly to O'Hare.

Kyle soon was packed and climbing aboard the chopper. He was eager to see his dad and sister, from the sounds of it he'd been away too long.

-

The light streamed through the windows and into the small bedroom. Blankets were strung up creating a fort inside the child's room.

A petit woman was curled up under the cloth stronghold, hugging a pillow to herself in her sleep. Slowly she began to stir, until twin jade eyes opened to take in the scene.

Elizabeth Weir shot straight up, managing to get her hair tangled in the blanket that was hanging over the top of her. She was alone. When she had gone to sleep John and Nicky were there under the fort as well.

She quickly crawled out from under the construction, before breaking into a sprint down the hallway. Swinging around the banister and taking two stairs at a time.

Elizabeth didn't know why she was panicking, she trusted John, but the fact that she didn't know where her son was scared her. Ever since Brian had died she'd had this overwhelming urge to protect all of those around her; no matter what the cost.

She slid on the wood floor in her socks, hastily making her way toward the kitchen.

Elizabeth skidded to a halt at the sight in front of her. John Sheppard stood at the stove cooking bacon, from the smells that were wafting toward her. His hair was even messier than normal and he was still wearing the same clothes that he had been last night.

Behind her lover, sitting at the counter in dinosaur pajamas was her son, Nicky. The little boy was grinning from ear to ear; Simon never let him sit at the counter and bacon was never on the menu. Apparently it was quite common for children to fall off of a stool and break their neck, but of course that was before the grease from the bacon clogged their arteries.

Elizabeth grinned at the scene while running a hand through her messy hair. Shadow was sitting attentively at John's feet, which in itself made her suspicious. A moment later her suspicions were confirmed when the man slipped a piece of the meat, which had been cooling on the counter, down for the dog to eat.

"Bribing my dog? Now that is low."

The man at the stove turned to look at her, with a devilish grin already on his lips.

"Well, they say that the way to a woman's heart is through her dog," she cocked an eyebrow at him, "or something like that."

"Mommy, John made bacon!"

Nicky was practically jumping up and down on his stool with excitement. She smiled at him before he turned back to the small TV that was on the counter. It had been moved from Simon's den into the kitchen, and was currently playing the Rugrats theme.

"Yeah, I see that Nicky," she walked over and ruffled his hair while smiling at John, who smiled back at her before continuing to cook.

The morning sunlight streamed into the house and Elizabeth briefly let her mind wander. She had been married to Simon for almost six years; five of them that she had spent with John.

Simon had persistently asked her to marry him for almost an entire year, before she'd given in. She'd been somewhat off the deep end since Brian's death and everyone, especially her parents had been worried about her. She had a bad habit of taking more risks then was necessary.

During one of her first negotiations, the entire delegation had been taken hostage by some radical group. No one had been able to get in or out and no one inside the room had any training in that type of situation. So when the opportunity had presented itself Elizabeth had taken out one of their captors, managing to get her shot in the process. She still carried part of the bullet in her leg. But it had been enough for that country's police to get a hold of the situation, and they had everyone under arrest within the next five minutes.

Add that to her smoking habit and a few other things, and it resulted in her parents trying to marry her off as soon as possible. Even her father, the great Admiral Weir, had wanted to see his free spirited daughter grounded to a man.

Simon had been the perfect man; a lawyer, never took any risks, always drove five miles under the speed limit and had a pattern of being kind of controlling. So everyone thought that he would rein her in; it hadn't worked.

The man had been driving her crazy, and then she had literally run into John Sheppard. They had both been walking through the halls of the pentagon, neither one paying attention and had run into one another. Her papers had been thrown everywhere and she'd ripped her favorite skirt, needless to say that she'd been ready to rip him in two.

John on the other hand had been entirely too charming, even after she informed him that she was married. He had already known that he was in love with her, as he'd said many times since then. It had taken Elizabeth quite awhile to realize that she felt the same, but when she did he was there waiting for her.

About a year after she'd started her affair with the major, Nicky had been born and John had started to drift away from her. Elizabeth knew that John didn't want to rip apart a family when there was a kid involved; he'd had that happen to him.

That thought brought her back to reality. Her conversation with Kyle had made her consider exactly what she wanted in life.

She knew that she wanted John to permanently be a part of her life, and she wanted him to know that Nicky was his. All of that meant getting a divorce from Simon, which would turn out to be harder then it sounded, because her husband didn't believe in divorce.

John walked over and set a plate full of bacon, eggs and toast in front of her son. She looked at it before smiling up at John. The food had been arranged in the shape of a smiley face, which clearly delighted the small boy.

"I'm going to go take a shower if you don't mind?"

"No go right ahead," Elizabeth watched as John turned off the stove and made to go down the hallway. In that instant she made up her mind, "John?'

He turned around looking at her with those questioning green eyes.

"We need to talk when you get out."

She could see his throat seize up even from this distance. Elizabeth knew that she had just uttered the most hated words in the entire English language.

"Don't worry it's a good thing…I hope," he tilted his head slightly, but then nodded and proceeded toward the stairs.

Feeling something cold nudge her hand, she rotated to see Shadow sitting at her feet wagging his tail.

"Traitor."

The dog seemed to take this as a compliment and his tail swished back and forth even faster.

Nicky was still watching cartoons and happily munching on a piece of the sacred bacon.

Elizabeth took a deep breath, knowing that what she said now could make or break her plan.

"Hey Nicky, do you like John?" she slid onto another stool opposite her son.

"Yeah, he's really cool. He likes to watch cartoons, play make believe stuff and have food fights…dad never does anything like that."

She was truly amazed at how much the boy had loosened up since last night; John had seemed to teach him how to be a kid.

_Maybe that's because he's a six year old trapped in a grown man's body._

"Yeah, he sure is something," she muttered mostly to herself, "I want you to be really honest with me Nicky. What do you really think about Simon?"

Her son turned from the TV, giving her the most confused look that she'd ever seen on a four year old. Then he looked around sharply, as if someone was going to jump out and yell at him. Nicky stared down at his plate for the longest time, before answering his mother in a small voice.

"I know that he's my daddy, but he doesn't feel like it."

Elizabeth's heart seemed to stop, she'd never even thought about if Nicky could tell who his real father was. She'd always had a strange intuition that tended to get her out of trouble if she listened to it. It wasn't that much of a stretch to think that her son would have it too.

"What do you mean?"

Nicky's face scrunched up in thought, before finally answering.

"He always seemed to act like my dad, but he never could really be my daddy. I don't know why. But I never wanted him to be my daddy either, he didn't want to play or ever have any fun."

Elizabeth was astounded that her son was this intuitive; apparently he took after her more than she'd thought. She smiled before standing and ruffling his hair.

"You're not going to tell him are you?" Nicky looked at her with clouded green eyes that were so much like her own.

"Its okay honey, everything is going to be fine," she smiled at the boy and to her surprise he smiled back, before turning to the TV, confident that his mother would put everything right.

Elizabeth walked away from her son, heading upstairs to complete the hardest part of her task. She almost couldn't believe that after one night, four years of avoidance had gone out the window.

She could hear the sound of the shower running coming from the bathroom that was connected to the master bedroom.

After waiting for only a few minutes the water turned off and a wet John Sheppard came out of the bathroom clad only in her light blue towel. Elizabeth, who was leaning against the wall by the closed door, couldn't help but admire the sight.

John looked up and saw her, momentarily freezing in place. She watched as his eyes became veiled, something that had never happened when she was around before. Her good mood suddenly vanished, something was wrong with him.

"What's wrong?"

He scrubbed a hand through his hair, before looking at her again.

"I can't do this anymore Elizabeth," his happy carefree attitude from this morning was gone entirely; "I thought that you had decided to end it this morning and that hurt me, but it got me thinking. I don't want to be 'the other guy'. I like Nick, I really do and I don't want to hurt him by taking away his father."

She opened her mouth to say something, but he cut her off.

"Let me finish. I love you, Elizabeth, more than life itself. I think that I've loved you since the day I met you, but I can't tear this apart. That boy deserves a good...no, a great family and I won't be the one to take his mother away," John had been raging at her since he started talking, but now he seemed to be deflated, "These past few years have been the best of my life, and I will never forget them…or you. I can't tell you how many times I have wished for you to be my wife and for him to be my son, but I can't be that delusional anymore."

"John, would you let me get a word in?"

Elizabeth had let out a strangled sob, while advancing in order to have some contact with the man. But he moved back to stay out of reach. She let her hand drop to her side, but didn't back up.

"I know that you don't want to be 'the other man' John. And I don't want you to be, I want to spend my life with the man I love and that isn't Simon."

She risked reaching out again, and this time he didn't pull away.

"Nicky likes you John, he can feel a connection to you. He is my son after all," she said it with a soft, yet teary smile, "I talked to my brother last night and he helped me realize that I don't want to be trapped in this life anymore. I want to be free to care about who I want, when I want to."

She reached up and ran her hand down the side of his clean shaven face.

"It's you John. I don't want Simon, I want you. And because of that," she took a deep breath, as she stared into John's disbelieving eyes, "I'm going to ask Simon for a divorce, and tell him everything."

John stared at her for a second; he seemed to be weighing her on some invisible scale. Then he reached up and ran his hand through her semi tangled hair.

"What about Nick?"

She gave a soft smile.

"Nick won't really be a problem. Like I said, he likes you."

"Elizabeth, he's not going to want to give the boy up without a fight. And no offense, but since you are the one that had the affair it is a good chance that he'll get custody."

"Simon doesn't have any claim to Nicky."

Elizabeth watched the cogs turn in his head; she could tell that he didn't really understand.

"What are you talking about? As his father Simon has as much claim as you do," John's hand had ceased its movement.

"Simon isn't Nicholas' father."

She watched as John froze, her own breath caught in her throat, waiting for him to do something. After several seconds John finally seemed to see her again.

"You mean that…he's…mine?"

Not having the air to form words at the moment she just nodded. And John gasped, a sound that settled somewhere between shear joy and having his heart ripped out.

"I…why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm sorry John. I could never find the right time. I didn't want to hurt Simon and, I guess I wasn't ready to except change. But I am ready now."

John watched her for a moment longer, before a lazy smile spread across his face and he caressed her cheek.

"If you tell him, there is no turning back."

"I know. I don't want to turn back. I want to spend the rest of my life with the man I love and my…our son."

John allowed a full blown grin to corrupt his features and before she knew it he was kissing her with all of the love that he had always professed.

After a few minutes they pulled apart and John rested his forehead against hers.

"I'm going to go take a shower, and then we can tell our son the truth."

He pulled back to look down at her, the love shining in John's eyes.

"What about ding bat?"

"I'll talk to him the next time I see him, I promise," she pulled back and gave him a small kiss before heading off to the bathroom.

"Well in that case I'm going to go call a shipping company," at her confused look he elaborated, "I want to know how much it costs to have a car filled with packing peanuts."

He grinned at her before she closed the door to the bathroom.

-

After having his conversation with Elizabeth, John had been in a considerably better mood.

If what she said was true then he'd have a family, real family. He'd finally be with the woman he loved and with their son.

It still felt odd to call the little boy that was sitting in the living room, not ten feet away from him, his son.

"John, have you ever seen that movie?"

Nicky's question brought John out of his thoughts; he had been trying to separate what features were Elizabeth's and what ones were his.

"What movie, Nick?"

"That one that they just showed on TV. The one with the superhero family," the boy was watching him with wide questioning eyes, it was almost comical. The fact that last night Nick hadn't even wanted to think about watching cartoons and now the kid was obsessed.

"You mean the Incredibles?" John took that as a yes, as the boy nodded vigorously, "No, I haven't seen it, but I'd be happy to go see it with you."

"Really?"

John couldn't resist the urge to laugh as Nick's eyes got as big as saucers and his grin split his small face in two.

"Yep, and if you're lucky we might even be able to drag your mom off to see it with us."

John leaned back; studying his kid again as Nick happily went back to the TV. The blanket behind him was soft against his bare back.

John squished the carpet between his bare feet and ran his hands down his blue jeans. He'd have to swipe the blanket before he left, there was no way the weasel was going to have something that soft.

Suddenly he felt a hand run right through his still wet hair. John smiled before looking up into Elizabeth's eyes.

She had changed into a low rise pair of jeans and a black tank top, her curly hair was still wet from the shower. She was the most beautiful thing that he'd ever seen and he would happily die to ensure that it would never change.

"Hey Nick can we talk to you?"

She had address her son without even taking her eyes off of John, but he soon heard the sound from the TV cease.

Elizabeth raised her eyes and moved over to crouch down in front of the boy. John observed for a second before going over and sitting on the couch next to him, this conversation was going to change all of their lives.

Nick looked from one adult to the other clearly not understanding what had taken away the carefree mood of the morning.

"Nicky…do you know what makes up a family?"

John watched Elizabeth as she spoke with their son. He knew that she was an accomplished diplomat, who had faced down many foreign leaders in times of crisis, but at this very moment it appeared that she was flying by the seat of her pants.

"Yes, it is when a whole bunch of people are related by blood and they care about each other."

"Yeah, that's right. Moms and dads are the closest family that anyone has. They love each other so much that they decide to get together and have someone else to share their love with."

Nick nodded his head and John figured that at one point the boy had probably heard something similar before.

"Now I'm your mom, obviously, and I really love your dad. I loved him so much that I always wanted to keep part of him with me."

"Me!"

Elizabeth grinned at Nicky's outburst, and once again John was struck by the resemblance between the two.

"Yes, you. However, there is something that you need to know, and I really hope that you'll try to understand. Okay?"

At Nick's nod Weir looked up at John, trying to get a read on what he was thinking. When he finally nodded at her to continue, she gave him a tight smile and turned back to the confused little boy.

"Simon isn't your real dad."

John watched the kid, waiting for the screaming and kicking to start, but it never did. He was really confused, he'd seen all of those movies where the parents reveal some big secret to a kid who later comes back to kill them. When he looked to see what Elizabeth was thinking, he was even more shocked.

There, kneeling on the ground in front of Nick was Dr. Elizabeth Weir, and she was grinning from ear to ear like she just got hit over the head with a stupid stick.

"You already knew that didn't you? Because Simon never felt like your dad," Elizabeth's words confused him even more until he thought about it.

This woman had the most accurate intuition out of anyone he'd ever met; it was very possible that her son had it too. John looked back over to the boy, trying to see if Elizabeth was right.

"Yeah, he never really seemed like a daddy."

"Do you know who your dad is?"

Nick frowned for a second before shaking his head. John waited for Elizabeth to continue, but when she didn't he glanced back in her direction. She was looking at him with a small smile on her face and when their eyes met she gave him a slight nod.

John took a deep breath and looked back at the little boy, his little boy, who was now looking at him.

"Nicky, I'm your dad."

To him that one second seemed to last an eternity, but then everything sped up and Nick had launched himself off the couch and into John's arms.

The motion had startled him, and for a moment he didn't even move. Then he was overwhelmed with the sensation of the small body of his own child pressed up against him, and it was all he could do not to burst into tears.

"Why don't you guys do the bonding thing while I go make a couple phone calls?"

John opened his eyes to look up at Elizabeth. She was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, the mother of his child and the woman that he loved, how could a man ask for anything more?

He mouthed 'I love you' to her and was rewarded with a teary smile and a 'me too'. John Sheppard was the happiest man on Earth.

-

Elizabeth ducked into the kitchen, leaving the two most important men in her life to feel out their new relationship.

She was finally confident that she had done the right thing.

Elizabeth quickly wiped the tears from her eyes, and picked up the phone. She started dialing a number of an old friend of hers, a lawyer.

"Tom Hardy."

"Tom? This is Elizabeth Weir, I need a favor."

There was silence from the other end, but that was to be expected. Tom had been a good friend of Kyle's, but instead of being an adventure hunter, like her brother, he'd gotten roped into the family business. Kyle had recruited him into the little scheme they'd been running six years ago to try and get her not to marry Simon; the last time she'd seen him had been at the wedding.

"Elizabeth? Is that really you? God it's been a long time, how are you doing?"

The man's friendly deep voice had always been a comfort to her. All of her brothers had had really great friends, who had managed to adopt her as their younger sister as well.

"Yeah, it's me Tommy. I'm doing okay, but I'll be even better if you can help me out."

"Yeah sure what do you need?"

"A short order divorce would be handy."

Again there was silence and she could just see the man blinking stupidly at his computer, he'd always hated to be surprised.

"From Simon?" Tom didn't even wait for the confirmation before continuing, "I'll put that in the express pile. Hell, I'll type it up right now."

She had to laugh, everyone except her parents had hated the man, and she was starting to think that her dad hadn't exactly been the president of his fan club. She had been so stupid, sure he was a nice guy, but there was no way in hell that she could live the rest of her life with him.

"Why now, after all these years?"

"I realized that I'd never be happy with him. And I'm in love with someone else."

"Damn Elizabeth, I'm flattered really I am, but I think my wife might have something to say about that."

She laughed at her friends' antics; it was reminiscent of high school when the guy used to have a crush on her.

"Yeah well I could kick her ass," they both laughed at that, "I fell in love with him five years ago and I'm only just now letting myself believe it."

"Don't you have a kid? What about him?"

"That's not a problem, he's John's."

"I'm guessing that's the other guy? Well I'll get it typed up and fax it over this afternoon. And after you sign it I can fax it over to Simon if you'd like?"

"That would be great Tom, but I don't think he's going to happily sign it. The bloody man doesn't believe in divorce."

"Yeah well, if anyone can persuade him to do something it will be you Lizzie."

"Thanks. If he wants to talk to me I'll be in Chicago with my parents after today, my dad had a heart attack."

"Jesus, I hope he's okay. Give him my best."

"I will, thanks again Tom."

With that said they hung up. She dialed her mom's number from memory, hoping that the woman hasn't gone out of her mind waiting for the call.

The other end was picked up on the third ring by heavy and gravelly male voice. Elizabeth froze for a second; the voice of her uncle was almost the last one that she had ever expected to hear. This was the man that had introduced her to Simon and pressured her mother into the thought that it was a good idea to marry him. Not to mention that he was a politician and had frequently smeared her name across the media.

"I want to speak with my mother, is she there?"

She could feel his sneer creeping through the phone like oil.

"Well, well, well if it isn't little Lizzie. Your mother has been worried sick while waiting for your call."

"Put my mother on the phone now," sharp steel was laced behind every word. She'd seen more powerful men then Barry Gavin jump at that tone of voice.

"Alright if you insist."

There was shuffling on the other end before her mother's voice replaced her uncle's.

"Mom, what is Barry doing there?"

"Oh Elizabeth, I've been waiting for your call. Barry? He was in town for one of his campaigns and took time off to come stay with me while Rob is in the hospital."

"Perfect," she thought she said it low enough so that Christine didn't hear, but she wasn't that lucky.

"Now you listen hear, your uncle is a good man. He introduced you to your husband and all of that stuff on TV and in the papers is only about business."

Elizabeth sighed, her mother had always been big on family, and she would refuse to see the bad in Barry even if the bastard was coming at her with a semi truck.

"Yeah mom, whatever you say. I got a hold of Troy and Kyle; both are on their way to Chicago now. I'll be leaving early tomorrow morning."

"Oh thank God, I was starting to think that none of you would be able to come. Are you bringing Nicholas and Simon with you?"

Elizabeth paused for a second trying to decide how much to tell her mother. She'd put in motion the end of her marriage and the beginning of a new life all in one morning and the only person she feared wouldn't take it well was her mother.

"I'm bringing Nick with me…and someone else."

"Someone else? Who? What about Simon?"

Elizabeth decided to bite the bullet and tell her, the family would have to find out sometime.

"Simon is in China. But that doesn't really matter, mom, because we're getting a divorce."

"What?"

Inwardly she cringed, the older woman didn't need anymore stress put on her.

"I don't love him, I don't think I ever have and I can't go through life like that."

"Alright, honey, if you're sure. I just want you to be happy."

Elizabeth blinked; there was no way it could be that easy. Getting Christine Weir to see her point of view was like teaching a pig how to ski in the middle of an avalanche.

"Are you sure? How's dad?"

"Your father is doing better, but they still have him in critical condition. The sooner you get up here the better."

"Okay, we'll be there as soon as possible."

They both hung up the phone, neither one saying goodbye.

She was still pondering her mother's bizarre behavior when she walked back into the living room.

Nick was curled up in the crook of John's arm and both were laughing as SpongeBob did something else stupid. In that moment it was impossible to deny that Nick was John's child, and it almost broke her heart to think that their first father son moment was shared over SpongeBob SquarePants.

John looked up at her entrance and flashed her one of those heart melting smiles. He then slid out from around Nick and after telling the kid that he'd be right back, followed Elizabeth back out into the kitchen.

"What's wrong?"

"I called Tom Hardy, an old friend of my brother's who just happens to be a lawyer, and had him draw up some divorce papers."

"Well, that's great. The faster it is the less strain it puts on Nicky."

She sighed as she watched John's imitation of a bouncy ball.

"It won't be that easy. Trust me, I know Simon and he's not going to want to give me a divorce, even if he did believe in them."

John seemed to deflate more and more throughout her sentence.

"Well, we'll just have to convince him, won't we? How's your dad? I'm assuming that you did call your mom, right?"

"Yeah, and she says that he's doing better. John I don't think that you should…"

"I'm going with you and that's that. I'm not going to leave you and Nick alone while your dad's in the hospital."

"It's just that my mother really liked Simon and I don't think she's going to take to kindly to an Air Force pilot replacing him."

"I'm going and that is finally."

She looked him in the eyes, seeing the determination that resided there and gave in.

"Okay, I have to call the airline and see if they have a flight from DC to Chicago tomorrow morning."

"Good, I'll go get Nicky packed and then I have to head over to my apartment and get some of my stuff together."

John shifted his weight as if to go back into the other room, but then changed direction at the last minute and kissed her. It was far from an innocent peck on the lips, but a deep kiss that seemed to communicate their love for each other perfectly.

When they finally pulled apart, both of them were flushed and short of breath.

"Don't let yourself get too stressed out. I'm here if you need me. I think I'll take Nicky with me to my apartment first, and maybe grab some fast food on the way back."

"'Kay, I'll get the tickets and pack Nicky and I some clothes."

John gave her another of his wicked grins before slapping her ass and leaving the room. She was fairly certain that that man would be the death of her, but it would be one hell of a ride on the way.


End file.
